The Milwaukee Brewers have promoted one of the best pitching prospects in the game, Jacob Misiorowski, to the Majors. Misiorowski has some of the best stuff on the planet, headlined by a fastball that consistently hits triple digits, a wicked curveball and a wipeout slider.
Misiorowski is expected to join a Brewers rotation that already ranks fifth in the Majors in ERA (3.35) but just 25th in innings pitched. Only two of their starters, Freddy Peralta and Chad Patrick, even have enough innings to qualify for the ERA title entering play on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old is a high-end arm who can add more consistency to this rotation — as long as he continues to throw strikes, which he has been at a higher clip than ever at Triple-A this season. His addition to an already decent rotation also makes some other arms expendable as the trade deadline looms.
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4) Quinn Priester can provide some team with instant rotation help
With Misiorowski inserted into the rotation, there's a good chance that Quinn Priester will be the current member of the staff bumped to the bullpen. As bad as that sounds, this move says more about Misiorowski than it does Priester, who, by all indications, has exceeded expectations with the Brewers.
Priester has a 3.88 ERA in 11 appearances (seven starts) and 55.2 innings of work in Milwaukee. He's been particularly effective when used as a traditional starter (2.83 ERA). The Brewers have been cautious with him, as he's completed six innings just twice and rarely faces hitters for a third time, but he's excelled in his role.
With Milwaukee having a full rotation, though, perhaps it might be beneficial for the Brewers to consider trading him to a team that needs a back-end starter. They might be able to flip him for even more than they gave up to acquire him initially.
3) The Brewers can give Tobias Myers a fresh start elsewhere
Tobias Myers broke out seemingly out of nowhere last season, but he began this season on the IL, and after returning from injury he's never quite looked right. He had a 4.95 ERA in six appearances (five starts), completed five innings just once and never threw more than 82 pitches in an outing. The Brewers sent him down in mid-May and haven't recalled him since.
What makes that interesting is that Myers has pitched well in Triple-A since his demotion, going at least five innings and allowing three runs or fewer in all three of his outings. He's pitching well enough to earn another look at the MLB level, but the Brewers simply don't need him.
Now, they shouldn't just give him away, but perhaps there's a team out there interested in acquiring a pitcher who has succeeded at the MLB level before, is just 26 years old and has several years of control remaining. In the right deal, it'd be foolish for the Brewers to say no, considering the depth they have. Myers is nothing but expendable right now.
2) The Brewers can sell high on Jose Quintana
Jose Quintana signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Brewers at a time when they were in dire need of starting pitching help this offseason. He's been everything they could've hoped for, as the veteran lefty has posted a 2.68 ERA in eight starts and 44 innings pitched. The Brewers have even gone 6-2 when he's taken the ball.
As impressive as he's been, Quintana's FIP is at 4.37, and while he does a decent job generating soft contact, he has only 31 strikeouts in his 44 innings pitched. He's a good pitcher, but is the pace he's pitching at now sustainable? Probably not. Is he expendable? Absolutely.
The Brewers have more starters than open spots as is, and they're expected to get veterans Brandon Woodruff and Nestor Cortes Jr. back at some point. I'm not saying the Brewers should rush to trade Quintana by any means, but starting pitching is as valuable as it's ever been.
If the Brewers have an opportunity to trade a 36-year-old on a one-year deal who is outperforming his expected metrics for something that can help them in another area this season, or an exciting prospect, why not pull the trigger?
1) It'd make sense for the Brewers to trade Aaron Civale sooner rather than later
Priester feels like the likely bet to move to the bullpen, but the weakest link in this Brewers rotation right now is Aaron Civale. The 29-year-old pitched pretty well for Milwaukee after they traded for him last season, but he missed nearly two months of this year with a hamstring injury, and he's posted a 4.91 ERA with a 5.52 FIP in his five starts since returning. He's completed five innings just twice, and he is rarely allowed to face the opposition for a third time.
Like Quintana, Civale will hit free agency after the year. Considering how this season has gone, the odds of him sticking with the team beyond this year are probably slim. With the state of starting pitching around MLB being what it is, the Brewers can almost certainly net something interesting for Civale, a starter with a decent track record.
Ultimately, an argument can (and probably should) be made that Milwaukee is better off using Priester, Myers or even fellow top prospect Logan Henderson in the rotation over Civale. Given that and what the Brewers can get from trading him, it feels like a deal should come about sooner rather than later.